Also, it's Wednesday.

Comic Day Impressions time!

Pretty good day. Bright point of the week is, oddly enough, not Global Frequency. It was real good, sorta funny, but without that Mission:Impossible air the first 3 issues have. Warren Ellis did a fine job--story's good and all, but I guess when it comes down to it the stakes weren't high enough. I'm not about to tell Mr. Ellis how to write his stuff--I have a feeling there's a Grand Plan beneath all of GF, but the story didn't make my eyes pop out. I think that's the standard Mr. Ellis has set for himself and it says a lot. This comic has been a bright point this year, without a doubt. Early in the year, though. Who knows, the next issue of Planetary may come out someday. Still lots of loose ends to tie up and create there. We haven't forgotten. By my reckoning the latest issue of Planetary came out in August of 2001 (there's a reason I remember it--I don't keep these records)...

The Truth should be making me all nice and angry, I guess. It doesn't. I love Kyle Baker's art and the very simple fact of the U.S. government's utterly evil treatment of blacks during the WWII years doesn't take anything away from Captain America. I'm not sure if the writers intend that or not, nor do I care. Good story, beautiful art. Baker's cartoonish characters exude emotion--what more can you ask? We're 3 issues in with 4 to go. Buy it. Hell of a lot more fun than Origin. In the same vein, be on the lookout for the "historical" treatment of the Fantastic Four--Unstable Molecules.

I wonder if I'm the only guy reading Agent X. I've heard Gail Simone quit or got fired, either way it was Marvel's loss. I think this issue (#7) was her last one... I guess we'll just have more people trying to write a funny Deadpool again, all the while DYING to get him to shoot things. This was easily the best issue yet--probably the most hilarious and disgusting setup ever with one wonderful running gag. If you're not reading it... I dunno... best I can say is don't get too attached. For those of us old codgers that bought Deadpool's first appearance back in New Mutants #98 or so, this is the Deadpool (though he's certainly not Deadpool anymore) you've wanted to read since he stopped being very Deadpooly on his 3rd or 4th appearance. Tip to Deadpool writers that aren't Gail Simone: Deadpool was fun because his constant irritating motormouth was FUNNY, not just because he didn't shut up. Save the witty useless banter for Spider-Man. Deadpool's jabbering is supposed to be infuriating, it's not supposed to ease his fear.

Ultimate War us still going. Strong writing by Millar, as if there were any doubt. Sorta light on the Ultimates, if you ask me, but the X-Men's position is really a little more interesting at this point in the story. If you aren't reading it, good God there's nothing I can say you haven't already heard.

Sigh. I was a little (a lot) put off by the first half of this month's Captain Marvel, but it got really really neat toward the end. I've got mixed feelings about this comic. There's the whole thing where I'm thinking to myself "So why am I reading this comic that couldn't hack it in its first 4 years and required an enormous marketing gimmick and a reboot to get going again?" The heart wants what the heart wants, I guess. It's a lot like the dark anti-hero comics of the late 80's/early 90's where mean people did mean things, except Captain Marvel is an anti-hero on a cosmic scale... Which is really a lot more entertaining. When Wolverine goes nuts, maybe somebody's going to die. When Cap'n Marvel goes nuts, it could be that Everybody is going to die. Interesting.

Was it just me or is this the first week in a while there hasn't been a new issue of Ultimate Spider-Man?

It took me a while to get to like the X-Statix. I'm an old fan-boy so I'll buy almost anything with an X on it just in case, but X-Statix has really kept me interested--a lot more than the old guard X-Force did.

Also, I think I didn't mention last week's standout, Soldier X. Yeah, Cable. I think it's ending, and I really have to admit the style wasn't all that appealing to me in the first place. I was going to drop it but the whole thing with the little Russian chick was nice and complicated and a little tragic. But the latest (last?) issue was all kinds of cool. If only the end of the Cable run and the first 6 issues of Soldier X could have been like that.

Read comics!

Okay, some admissions. I've been a little busy... Obviously. Ya see, back in the early days of 2003 I discovered that my Playstation 2 wouldn't play DVD's, nor would it play most PS2 games. After corresponding with the Sony corporation, they asked that I box up my gaming device and have them fix it for free. And it came back last Friday. The 24th. So I haven't been blogging, I've been playing Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance (preferred character is the ever-popular Sub-Zero).

So I also missed the Super Bowl and last night's State of the Union address. I probably would have missed my own wedding. Such a filthy nerd. Mind you I'm not all that interested in football (other than that one game around Thanksgiving in which the Fine and Honorable Stately Gentlemen of Texas A&M play the patchoulli-soaked hippies of the university of Texas. I missed all the good commercials, I know. As for the State of the Union, I'm a big fan of our man W., but I figured the high points would be all sorted out by National Review, Fox News, the Weekly Standard, and Drudge. I really liked that I can't even use the word "swipe" when referring to Bush's SMASH on Iraq. Something refreshing about a President that can say "evil" without irony and without meaning "synonymous with Republicans."

Now, I heard on my radio station of choice, WOAI here in San Antonio, from Ciro Rodriguez (D., San Antonio, TX) and his critique of the speech. Talk about all over the place--I hope Rep Rodriguez doesn't play darts. The usual left-wing ignorance of the odd economics of tax policy--"he says he wants to save Social Security but he also wants to privatize it, and you can't do both!"--which must seem like the height of Progressive Thought. On the war, I'm not sure Rep Rodriguez knew what to think. By that, I mean he hadn't got the talking points yet. Insists that there's no proof that Iraq has connections to terrorism (proven untrue), and even though it might EVERY Middle East country has connections to terrorism. Then he named Saudi Arabia (agree), Morocco (dunno, probably). Forgot if he mentioned Syria, Iran, Lybia... None of them are immune and all those Middle Eastern autocracies are scared to death of their resident Islamists. Made points about how a "war on terrorism" has to be surgical since we aren't dealing with governments, and then the sad defeatist Democrat line: "We can't get them all."

Now I want this to be understood--I don't think Rep. Rodriguez was equating the U.S. with terror-supporting countries like Libya or Iraq. But he made the same point that terrorism (if we were going to fight it, which he's already said would be impossible) has some links in America, too (agree!)! But that's not a reason to root it out, it's a reason to not even try. Sad, sad, sad.

What can you say to that? "Buck up, little camper?" For one, there's a big difference between countries with resident terror groups and countries that explicitly support terrorism, as a government policy. Hell, we've got our own home-grown Earth Liberation Front, but they don't get EPA grants, I hope. But Iraq has shown that it supports terrorism. Canada is nervous about all their terrorists and they're in kind of a cultural dither when it comes to dealing with it, but Iraq gives terrorists (say it with me now) aid and comfort, explicitly. They are friends of the regime. Welcomed and supported. That's a terror-supporting nation.

Democrats like to concentrate on bin Laden. Yeah, he's rotten. Might be alive, might be dead. But there's an odd insistence that this one man be dead or captured before any further discussion on war continue. I say odd because they are usually the last people to say the world would be a better place with one man dead. And if bin Laden's head were to show up on a spike on fence at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue tomorrow, they'd pronounce the war Over. There's no good reason to engage the Democrats on the matter of bin Laden. Terrorism would continue (and possibly has) with him dead. There's never been a war against Al Qaeda or bin Laden--just one against Terrorism.

Nothing particularly galling about Rodriguez's jabberation--he doesn't have the charisma for that. But you do shake your head and wonder where you can find such ignorance.